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@aneripattani.bsky.social

Reporter @KFFHealthNews.bsky.social covering mental health & substance use. Teaching safe suicide reporting. Dessert lover & permanent dance student. Tips: anerip@kff.org

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@aneripattani.bsky.social · 2w ago

Nearly half of roughly $58 billion in opioid settlement money is controlled by county commissioners and city councilors, who often have little experience with addiction policy. Is anyone watching how they spend the money? kffhealthnews.org/public-healt...

Leadership Vacuum: Agencies in New York and Beyond Pass the Buck on Opioid Cash Oversight - KFF Health News

The opioid settlements are a multibillion-dollar windfall with only loose spending suggestions rather than strict requirements. Some people directly affected by the crisis want stronger guardrails. Bu...

kffhealthnews.org

Bloomberg American Health Initiative@americanhealth.bsky.social · 2mo ago

In her latest piece for @kffhealthnews.org, Bloomberg Fellow @aneripattani.bsky.social discusses the loneliness epidemic and what people in communities across the country are doing to combat it. Read more: kffhealthnews.org/mental-healt...

Trivia Nights, Valentine’s Cards: Overlooked Social Connections Can Prevent Suicide - KFF Health News

The research is clear: Among the various complex issues that contribute to suicide, loneliness is a big one. Now, there’s a growing push to address loneliness not just through personal choices but als...

kffhealthnews.org

Darius Tahir@dariustahir.bsky.social · 2mo ago

President Trump has taken a pro-tobacco regulatory stance in office. There has also been an extraordinary flow of money between Trump and the tobacco industry, including as much as $1.64 million in Philips Morris stock. My latest, with @kffhealthnews.org: kffhealthnews.org/courts/fda-t...

Trump Bought Tobacco Stocks and Raked In Industry Donations as FDA Eased Standards - KFF Health News

The Trump administration has pursued an extensive pro-tobacco agenda as the president and his political movement have been buoyed by a flood of tobacco industry money, federal records show.

kffhealthnews.org

Katheryn Houghton@k-hought.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Humans are social animals. When we feel cut off from one another, our stress levels increase, our immune systems are disrupted, and ultimately we’re likely to die earlier. kffhealthnews.org/mental-healt... Another good one from @aneripattani.bsky.social for @kffhealthnews.org

Trivia Nights, Valentine’s Cards: Overlooked Social Connections Can Prevent Suicide - KFF Health News

The research is clear: Among the various complex issues that contribute to suicide, loneliness is a big one. Now, there’s a growing push to address loneliness not just through personal choices but als...

kffhealthnews.org

@aneripattani.bsky.social · 2mo ago

“If we want to reduce suicide rates in our country, which is absolutely essential, then a key part of that has to be fostering social connection,” says Vivek Murthy, former U.S. surgeon general. The latest in my series on #suicideprevention kffhealthnews.org/mental-healt...

Trivia Nights, Valentine’s Cards: Overlooked Social Connections Can Prevent Suicide - KFF Health News

The research is clear: Among the various complex issues that contribute to suicide, loneliness is a big one. Now, there’s a growing push to address loneliness not just through personal choices but als...

kffhealthnews.org

Bloomberg American Health Initiative@americanhealth.bsky.social · 2mo ago

In a new piece for @kffhealthnews.org, Bloomberg Fellow @aneripattani.bsky.social examines a new approach to suicide prevention--one that focuses on the economy. Read more: kffhealthnews.org/mental-healt...

Low Wages, Empty Plates, Heavy Toll: Rethinking Suicide Prevention - KFF Health News

Decades of research indicate that interventions that bring down people’s cost of living, such as ensuring they have access to stable housing and food, are linked to lower suicide rates.

kffhealthnews.org

@aneripattani.bsky.social · 3mo ago

One of the strongest tools for suicide prevention is often overlooked. It’s not medicine, therapy, or crisis prevention. It’s economic policy. 2nd piece in my @kffhealthnews.org series on suicide prevention. Published with @washingtonpost.com www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...

How minimum wage hikes and food stamps fit in to suicide prevention

Studies show income, debt and access to basic needs shape mental health outcomes, but U.S. strategies have largely focused on clinical care.

washingtonpost.com

@aneripattani.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Trump's national drug control strategy sets lofty public health goals, but the administration’s own funding cuts and policies affecting insurance will make them difficult to achieve. Several people I interviewed used the term "cognitive dissonance." kffhealthnews.org/public-healt...

Trump’s Drug Strategy Aims To Bolster Addiction Services — Despite Gutting of Government Support - KFF Health News

The White House’s strategy for tackling the drug and addiction crisis, released this week, sets lofty public health goals but highlights deep inconsistencies with the administration’s own funding cuts...

kffhealthnews.org

@aneripattani.bsky.social · 3mo ago

When Natural Disasters Strike, Another Crisis Hits Those Recovering From Opioid Addiction via @arjonesreports @kffhealthnews kffhealthnews.org/public-healt...

When Natural Disasters Strike, Another Crisis Hits Those Recovering From Opioid Addiction - KFF Health News

Using Hurricane Helene as a teachable moment, a group of doctors outlined concrete steps that lawmakers can take to reverse a crisis in getting substance use medications during natural disasters.

kffhealthnews.org

@aneripattani.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Someone in America dies by suicide every 11 minutes. Some experts, like @sspencerthomas.bsky.social, say treating mental illness isn’t enough. We must fix the “broken things in our communities." First piece in my series on suicide prevention for @kffhealthnews.org kffhealthnews.org/mental-healt...

Saving Lives by Changing Lives: The Next Frontier in Suicide Prevention - KFF Health News

Someone in America dies by suicide every 11 minutes. It’s a tragic and entrenched problem. A new approach to prevention shifts the focus from stopping harm in moments of crisis to upstream policies th...

kffhealthnews.org

Katheryn Houghton@k-hought.bsky.social · 4mo ago

UPDATE: People relying on Medicaid in Montana might gain access to doula support in pregnancy after all. The state is once again working to add doula services to its Medicaid coverage. That comes after recent reporting that a budget deficit had stalled those plans.

Montana Moves Ahead With Doula Pay but Warns Medicaid Cuts Still May Come - KFF Health News

Montana health officials say they’re seeking to add doula services to the state’s Medicaid program, reversing a previous statement that they would “not be moving forward” amid a budget shortfall.

kffhealthnews.org

KFF Health News@kffhealthnews.org · 4mo ago

Misty Pipe, a mom of seven, offers free doula care around her day job sorting mail in a Montana town that's 100 miles from the closest hospital that delivers babies. The state had agreed to pay doulas like Pipe through Medicaid this year. That plan is now on hold, reports @k-hought.bsky.social ⤵️

Darius Tahir@dariustahir.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Last fall, I was told about a burgeoning world of apps offering AI therapy. I took a look: all over the app store, there are products for kids as young as 4. Many seem to use your data for advertising. What's it mean to have AI therapy? For @kffhealthnews.org: kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

Your New Therapist: Chatty, Leaky, and Hardly Human - KFF Health News

With high demand for mental health care, a wave of artificial intelligence-powered chatbots are being marketed as therapy apps — with little evidence they work and few regulations.

kffhealthnews.org

@aneripattani.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Can a $5,500 device delivering electrical pulses to the brain offer a new route to addiction recovery? The device maker thinks so. But researchers say marketing is outpacing evidence - a trend with companies trying to capitalize on opioid settlement money. kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

Maker of Device To Treat Addiction Withdrawal Seeks Counties' Opioid Settlement Cash - KFF Health News

Some researchers and recovery advocates see the NET device as the latest in a series of products pitched as the solution to the addiction crisis that have been overhyped to capitalize on money from th...

kffhealthnews.org

Bram Sable-Smith@realbrambo.bsky.social · 5mo ago

NEW: Most of the Medicaid cuts passed by congressional Republicans last year don't take effect until after the midterms, but the Trump's signature law is already squeezing state Medicaid programs. In Idaho, one service on the possible chopping block is home care for people with disabilities.

KFF Health News@kffhealthnews.org · 5mo ago

In the wake of the federal Big Beautiful Bill, state lawmakers in Idaho and elsewhere are mulling cuts to Medicaid services that help disabled people live at home or in their communities. “We just hold our breath every legislative session,” says one mother. @realbrambo.bsky.social reports ⤵️

Katheryn Houghton@k-hought.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Hi — new to BlueSky! I’m a journalist covering how health policy and systems impact people. Lately I’ve reported on federal cuts hitting a rural bioscience hub, a town recovering from meth, and a man who said he had to break Medicaid rules. Based in Montana, I write for both 📰 and 📻

Lonny Fritzler installs paneling on a future therapeutic foster home for kids whose parents need addiction treatment elsewhere. He says he had to leave his hometown of Lodge Grass to recover from his own addiction to meth.Illustration by Oona Zenda of a man having to weigh prioritizing either his job or access to health care with a lawmaker in the background. Hundreds of people join a protest in downtown Hamilton, Montana, in April supporting the work of federal employees as President Donald Trump oversees efforts to restructure the nation’s government.
@aneripattani.bsky.social · 6mo ago

You can read (and listen) to my original story here: kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

Inside the Battle for the Future of Addiction Medicine - KFF Health News

The experiences of one doctor in Louisiana reveal the tensions around trying to get people to engage in addiction treatment, even if they’re not ready to stop using drugs.

kffhealthnews.org

@aneripattani.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Thank you Alana Schreiber & @wwno.org for inviting me to talk about Dr. Elyse Stevens, her patients, and what a New Orleans hospital system's treatment of them says about the future of addiction medicine www.wwno.org/show/louisia...

@aneripattani.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Thank you Alana Schreiber & @wwno.org for inviting me to talk about Dr. Elyse Stevens, her patients, and what a New Orleans hospital system's treatment of them says about the future of addiction medicine www.wwno.org/show/louisia...

New Orleans doctor accused of overprescribing; Indigenous community in Dulac loses vital cultural center

Today on Louisiana Considered, we hear about a Louisiana doctor whose history of flexible care led to allegations of overprescribing for her patients. And, we visit the town of Dulac, where the closin...

wwno.org

@aneripattani.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Honored and grateful to receive ASAM's media award this year for reporting that "that improves the public's understanding of addiction, treatment, recovery, or the profession of addiction medicine."

ASAM@asamorg.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Congrats to the 2026 ASAM Award winners! The awards recognize outstanding individuals who help advance addiction medicine through research, education, patient care & media awareness >> https://www.asam.org/news/detail/2026/01/22/asam-s-2026-awards-honor-outstanding-addiction-medicine-professionals

@aneripattani.bsky.social · 7mo ago

After a trip to New Orleans last year, I could not get this place out of my mind. It's so many things at once. An abandoned Family Dollar, a community center, a free thrift store, a medical clinic, a punk concert venue. I tried to recreate my visit: veritenews.org/2026/01/07/f...

Thrift Store. Clinic. Roller Rink. Center becomes ‘radical’ lifeline amid homelessness, drug crises. - Verite News New Orleans

Located in the Lower 9th Ward, this abandoned building has become a community sanctuary and resource.

veritenews.org

Mary Beth Campbell@mbcampbell360.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Excellent piece from @aneripattani.bsky.social . I am honored to know Elyse and to have worked beside her - it is no exaggeration when I say that this is been a huge and terrible loss the community. There are real, human lives affected when politics get in the way of evidence-based care.

KFF Health News@kffhealthnews.org · 7mo ago

Elyse Stevens' approach to addiction care won awards but also sparked a debate over "unconventional" prescribing that eventually forced her out of her hospital and state. @aneripattani.bsky.social reports ⤵️ kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

@aneripattani.bsky.social · 7mo ago

I thought I understood a lot about addiction medicine, having reported on it for nearly a decade. Then I worked on this story. Article & radio versions here via @kffhealthnews.org & @npr.org: kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

Inside the Battle for the Future of Addiction Medicine - KFF Health News

The experiences of one doctor in Louisiana reveal the tensions around trying to get people to engage in addiction treatment, even if they’re not ready to stop using drugs.

kffhealthnews.org

@aneripattani.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Great reporting by @priscillatotiya.bsky.social @elpasomatters.bsky.social on how the county, city, and local hospital are using their opioid settlement funds... including $411k spent on demolishing an old strip club building elpasomatters.org/2025/12/01/e...

El Paso received $5.2 million to mitigate opioid risks, with more funds to come. Most of that money sits unspent

Texas began distributing opioid abatement funds from a national settlement agreement with pharmaceutical companies that drove the opioid crisis.

elpasomatters.org

@aneripattani.bsky.social · 9mo ago

I got to discuss how opioid settlement money is being spent (hint: sock hops and mixed martial arts demos) in my home state of Connecticut on a podcast from the state! Listen here: www.podbean.com/eas/pb-6i4rt...

When “Doing Something” Isn’t Enough: Tracking Opioid Settlement Spending

Aneri Pattani, Senior Correspondent for KFF Health News rejoins the podcast (after a 4-year absence!) to talk about the research she has done as part of a team to track the spending from the Opioid Se...

podbean.com

Amy Maxmen, PhD@amymaxmen.bsky.social · 9mo ago

🔔 When Trump posted a video of budget director Russell Vought as the grim reaper, public health workers recognized a kernel of truth. My latest piece @kffhealthnews.org couldn't be more important. Art by the incredible @oonazenda.bsky.social 🧵 kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

Wielding Obscure Budget Tools, Trump’s ‘Reaper’ Vought Sows Turmoil in Public Health - KFF Health News

Through shrouded bureaucratic maneuvers, White House budget director Russell Vought and DOGE have quietly upended outbreak response, HIV treatment, and dementia care in communities across America.

kffhealthnews.org